Introduction . According to the storyline, he created the title when he was unable to win the WWF Championship The title was created during the storyline where
Ted DiBiase, known as "The Million Dollar Man", was unable to win the
WWF Championship (now WWE Championship), having lost the final match of the WWF Championship tournament at
WrestleMania IV to
Randy Savage. During the Summer of 1988, DiBiase teamed with
André the Giant, in a team known as "
The Mega Bucks", while chasing the WWF Championship. Still unable to win the title, DiBiase decided that if he could not win or buy the WWF Championship, he would purchase his own belt. In 1989, DiBiase unveiled a new championship belt, which he called the Million Dollar Championship. This championship was not officially sanctioned by the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and DiBiase would rarely put his "championship" on the line in matches. This also led to a
face turn for the
Big Boss Man, who resented his manager
Slick selling his services to DiBiase in order to retrieve the belt from Roberts. After attacking Roberts and stealing the bag containing the belt and Roberts' pet
python named Damien, DiBiase, the Boss Man, and Slick headed for "
The Brother Love Show" where DiBiase bragged about buying the Boss Man's services. The Boss Man then told both Slick and DiBiase that he could not be bought and immediately returned the bag to Roberts, who had been left handcuffed to the ring ropes. The Boss Man then released Roberts, walked back to the Brother Love set, pushed Slick, and again told an irate DiBiase that he could not be bought before walking off to the cheers of the crowd, cementing his face turn. DiBiase had his bodyguard
Virgil get the belt back from Roberts at
WrestleMania VI after Roberts was counted out during their match at the
SkyDome. In 1991, DiBiase's bodyguard Virgil rebelled, turned face, and challenged DiBiase at
SummerSlam for the Million Dollar Championship. Virgil won the match, however, DiBiase regained the championship with the help of
Repo Man at
Survivor Series Showdown.
Revivals was awarded the Million Dollar Championship by his father
Ted DiBiase in 2010 Ted DiBiase would later go on to award the championship to his newest protégé,
The Ringmaster, on his arrival in the WWF in January 1996 (
pre-taped in December 1995). In May 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE, which became an
orphaned initialism in 2011). After several years, the Million Dollar Championship reappeared on WWE television in 2009 when DiBiase, the
guest host of the night, appeared on the July 6 episode of
Raw, carrying the belt as he fulfilled his guest host duties. Nearly a year later, when DiBiase was inducted into the
WWE Hall of Fame on March 27, 2010, he had the Million Dollar Championship belt with him. Then, on the April 5 episode of
Raw, after DiBiase's son
Ted DiBiase Jr. disbanded his tag team,
Legacy, DiBiase Jr. came out holding the Million Dollar Championship, claiming his father had given it to him. WWE's official website confirmed the reactivation of the unsanctioned championship under DiBiase Jr.'s profile. On the October 4 episode,
Goldust attacked DiBiase Jr. and gained possession of the belt. On the November 8 episode,
Aksana stole the Million Dollar Championship belt from him. Goldust stole the belt back the following week and returned it to "The Million Dollar Man", who then offered to return it to his son, who rejected the offer, thus the Million Dollar Championship was again deactivated. After more than a decade of being off television, the title was brought back in 2021 for WWE's
NXT brand. On the February 10, 2021 episode of
NXT,
Cameron Grimes made his return from injury and claimed to have become a
GameStop investor during his time away (in reference to the
GameStop stock rise), thus making him the "richest man in NXT". Grimes then began a feud with DiBiase after encountering him in a jewelry store over their watches. Over the next few weeks, "The Million Dollar Man" would continue to one-up Grimes, outbidding him in various purchases. The two then had a "Million Dollar Face-Off" on the May 25 episode where
LA Knight defended and allied with DiBiase. At
TakeOver: In Your House Knight defeated Grimes in a Ladder Match for the title. After this, WWE added an official title history for the Million Dollar Championship to their website, thus recognizing the title as an official championship in the promotion. During the following episode of
NXT, Knight turned on and attacked DiBiase, who was saved by Grimes. Grimes then defeated Knight to win the title at
TakeOver 36 on August 22. ==Belt design==